Happy 50th, MAD!

MAD magazine hits the big five-oh this month, joining the Seattle Monorail, the Seattle World's Fair, the Rolling Stones, and Spider-Man as cool things that hit the big five-oh this year.

Other than the MAD Presents Batman special I picked up over the summer, I probably haven't bought a single issue since the '80s. (For that matter, I don't think I've ever sat through a full episode of MADtv.) Perhaps the best MAD-related thing to come out in the last 25 years is the awesome, unauthorized Roctober tribute issue -- here's a better look at the cover.

MAD meant the most to me between 1977 and 1984 or so (ages 8 through 15), when it spoofed the first Star Wars and Indiana Jones installments, along with the other movies and TV shows and video games (above) that I was tuned into. I didn't quite get all the political humor and social commentary, but I dug Spy vs. Spy, the Fold-ins, and all the stuff by Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Mort Drucker, and especially Jack Davis. And I must've played that stupid Makin' Out flex-disc a million times.

Anyway, congrats to the usual gang of idiots!
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